CD Projekt RED Casts Enchanting Spell With 'Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'

The Witcher games are a series of action-heavy RPGs developed by CD Projekt RED, based on a book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Both media properties tell the story of a monster-hunter called Geralt of Rivia, who is constantly dragged into the political conflict between nations despite his generally neutral attitude. Monster hunting is his calling, and among the magically enhanced warriors called Witchers, Geralt is the best of them.

A lengthy, non-playable The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt PC demo showcased a multitude of areas, gameplay tweaks, and story-related scenarios, all of which drive home how much The Witcher 3 has improved over its predecessors.

A Quick Demo WalkthroughAesthetically, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is beautiful. The countryside is lush and bright, filled with brilliant greens and spotted with yellow and white flora. The cityscape is gray and drab by comparison, but filled with bustle and energy.

There were a few technical hiccups such as screen-tearing and character and landmark pop-in when there was a lot going on at once. Novigrad was the biggest culprit, though the pop-in was relatively subtle, and forgivable given the city's size and scope.

Improved CombatCombat has been redesigned to look more fluid and natural, but Geralt fights with a supernatural flourish that gives his blows a powerful sense of impact. Killing strikes brutally maim and dismember enemies, but without the excessive, in-your-face camera close-ups that many action games seem to favor nowadays. Rather than tumbling around in a roll, Geralt weaves, back-steps, and pirouettes out of harm's way, which also adds to the natural flow and look of combat.

Though Geralt is powerful, monsters can easily match and challenge him. About mid-way through the demo, Geralt was assaulted by a group of Drowners. The two- or four-legged fiends moved quickly, and dove into the swamp to take cover or plot and ambush. The Drowers also flung filth at Geralt, and when it successfully made contact with the protagonist, the muck temporarily covered the screen, obscuring the demoer's vision. This attack caused the demoer to lose his edge in the fight—Geralt was nearly killed by the monsters. He slayed two beasts while blinded, but lost a tremendous amount of health doing so. Despite looking like disfigured men, the monsters had absurd strength, and tore his health down to nearly nothing in only a few blows. After some well-timed dodging, the demo pilot killed off the last monster by igniting swamp gas with his "Igni" sign, a basic Witcher spell.

Potion and ItemsLater, Geralt encountered a maimed body on a hilltop that was surrounded by wolf tracks. As a precaution, the demo player readied a silver bomb and silver sword before moving on to his target, the ancient tree. Sure enough, at the base of this tree he found a werewolf. Before the beast noticed him, the demoer used an enhancement potion to make him more effective against such beasts. The demoer explained that potions can be used whenever you want, but there's a limit to how many Geralt can use before they become detrimental.

A gauge at the bottom of the inventory screen represents Geralt's toxicity levels. As he consumes these potions, the toxicity level increases. At max, the potions will hinder Geralt's performance, rather than help him. This means that potion use is essentially on a timer and cannot be abused without suffering consequences. You must be selective about which potions to use, and wait for their toxicity to drop before using more.

Geralt's potion give him an edge, but only so long as you take advantage of it. Geralt's attacks were more effective against the werewolf after downing a potion, but the effect was wasted when he whiffed blows. Likewise, the silver bomb the demoer armed prior to the fight prevented the werewolf from regenerating and did significant damage. But if you cannot kill the beast before the bomb effects go off, you will have a much harder fight on your hands.

During the presentation, the demo pilot let the fight drag on too long, and this is precisely what happened. The werewolf summoned wolves to distract Geralt, and it pulled away to regenerate. When the werewolf jumped back into the fray, its health was nearly at full. Fortunately, Geralt's potion was still in effect, and the pilot was able to whittle the monster's health down once more and kill it.

A Few Months AwayCD Projekt Red has yet another hit on its hands should the final build play as well as the sampled demo build. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is scheduled for a Feb. 15, 2015 release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Gabriel Zamora is as passionate about writing as he is about video games and electronics, and his fervor has led to game and tech article contributions in a variety of online publications including PCMag.com, Examiner.com, 2D-X.com, and Multiplayergames.com. When not criticizing the state of gaming or reviewing tech, Gabriel spends much of his time attending related events in New York City, catching up on his favorite written works, or trying out new cooking recipes at home. You can follow him on Twitter: @Dracozombie....
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